I’ve never felt like the “cool grandma” that other grandparents seem to be. I’d love to be, but I just don’t think enough like a child to come up with cool things for us to do—rock climbing, camping, water skiing, tubing, for example. Not me.
I’m much more traditional in my thinking. I think of making cookies together, or blowing bubbles, or going for a walk, or reading a book, or going to a park to swing and slide.
I hear of what other grandparents do, and I think those things are great, but they just aren’t me. I’m not even inclined to copy what they do.
I always wanted to be the “cool aunt,” and I got off to a pretty good start with Steve’s niece. In the late sixties, I bought her a Barbie and made clothes for it. Of course I regretted it 1) because making those tiny clothes is a pain, and 2) I hadn’t given any thought to the body image those dolls promoted. I just knew it was a popular new toy. I think she survived it, though; she has a good life with her faith, her family, and her job.
I finally got another chance at being the “cool aunt” when my niece was born in 1990. When she was about ten, we started having her to our home for a week in the summer. We kept it up for several years, and we all have great memories of our times together. (Of course the time we had the most fun was when we went with Steve in search of the best Ferris Wheel around.) I’ll be rewarded in June when she and her husband come to visit for a few days. I look forward to finding out what she remembers about those visits.
Taking one grandson on the “Donut Trail,”—visiting twelve different donut shops in one day, mostly one morning,—was a treat. We all loved that, and just finding them was an adventure in mapping. Pretty soon the two younger grandchildren will need to make that trip. Hmmm….better be planning on that soon.
Maybe the donuts will qualify me to be a “cool grandma” after all.
Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6
